Grocery-bin.



PATENTED MAR. 31, 1903.

A. MONAHAN. GROCERY BIN. M

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 5, 1902. no uonnn.

UNITED STATES PATE T OFFICE.

ANDREW MONAHAN, OF IRONWOOD, MICHIGAN.

GROCERY-BIN.

ESEPEGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 724,029, dated March 31, 1903.

' Application filed February 511902. Serial No. 92,713. (No model.) i

To aZZ whom it may concern/:-

Be it known that 1, ANDREW MONAHAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ironwood, in the county of Gogebic and State of Michigan, have invented a new and useful Grocery-Bin, of which the following is aspecification. A s

The invention relates to receptacles for groceries, and particularly to a bin provided with means for feeding the contents thereof into a scoopway from which the contents may be readily removed without injury thereto, the same being specially designed for loaf-sugar and similar frangible materials which are easily broken when a scoop is thrust into the same in the ordinary way.

Further objects andadvantages of this. invention will appear in the following description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Inthe drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective View of a bin constructed in accordance with the invention, a portion of the same being broken away to disclose the interior arrangement. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section of the same.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts in both figures of the drawlugs.

The attachment constituting the essential feature of the invention is applicable to a bin of any ordinary or well-known construction, such as that shown in the drawings, wherein the same consists of a body or box 10, having a removable top or cover 20. Under ordinary circumstances a binis accessible only from the top, and in order to remove the contents it is necessary to force the scoop downwardinto the same, thus breaking or chipping the blocks of such material as loaf-sugar, with the result of materially diminishing the value of the article or at least of the residue when the main portion of the contents of the bin has been removed. To avoid this breaking of the blocks, the bin embodying the invention is constructed with a scoopway accessible at one end and communicating at the opposite end with the body portion of the interior of :the bin, and the partition between the scoopway and the body portion of the bin is constructed ofseparately and consecutively removable sections or members to facilitate the feeding of the contents of the bin into the scoopway as the stock diminishes.

In the illustrated and preferred embodiment of the invention a supporting element, such as a rod or bar 11, is extended through the bin from front to rear, and parallel with this supporting element is arranged a partition-wall 30, which divides the interior of the bin into a reservoir or main receptacle 40 and a scoopway 50, having an open front end, as shown at 51, fitted with a movable closure 52. The wall or partition consists of a series of separately and consecutively removable memhersv 31', provided with brackets or hooks 32 for engaging the support. The wall or partition terminates short of the rear wall of the bin to permit the contents of the main compartment to feed into the scoopway 50 around the rear end of the wall or partition, and as the stock in the main compartment diminishes the rearmost partitions may be removed consecutively to facilitate the feeding operation; also, the sections of the partition which are arranged in a vertical position are interlocked at their adjacent edges by engaging tongues and grooves. The opening in the front end of the scoopway provides for the introduction of a scoop, which may be advanced in contact with the floor of the way, so as to receive the desired amount of the contents of the bin without coming in contact therewith in such a manner as to cause breaking or chipping of the material. When all of the partition-sections have been removed, the remainder of the contents of the bin may be taken up by a scoop in 'a manner similar to that-which is possible when, the main compartment being full, only a portion of the contents feed into the scoopway.

It will be understood, that the attachment, consisting of the support and the sectional partition, may be applied to a bin of the ordinary construction, with the result of providing for the removal of the contents of the bin without the reduction of the contents thereof, especially when they consist of lump or loaf sugar, to a powdered or broken state, which obviously is of less value than the whole lump or loaf stock.

In practice it is preferred to construct the bar 11 of a split flooring-board or its equivalent having a tongued upper edge and to apply the other section of the board having the groove therein to the surfaces of the partitionsections 31 to form the books or support-engaging device 32. Obviously the engagement of the groove in the member 32 with the tongue on the bar or member 11 insures the proper position of the partition-section in the box or bin, and by adopting this means for securing the partition in place the element of metal in the construction of the bin is practically eliminated.

Having described the invention, what is claimed is-- 1. A bin having a scoopway accessible at its front end and in communication at its rear end with the main compartment, said scoopway and main compartment being separated by a sectional partition, of which the sections are consecutively removable.

2. A bin interiorly divided by a partition to form a main compartment, and a scoopway accessible at its front end and in com munication with the main compartment at its rear end, said partition consisting of consecutively-removable sections having their adjacent edges interlocked.

3. A bin interiorly divided by a partition to form a main compartment and a scoopway accessible at its front end and in communication at its rear end with the main compartment, said partition consisting of a series of consecutively-removable sections, and a support with which said sections are engaged.

4. A bin interiorly divided by a partition to form a main compartment and a scoopway accessible at its front end and in communication at its rear end with the main compartment, and a support extending from front to rear within said bin, the partition consisting of a series of consecutively-removable sections provided with brackets for engagement with said support.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ANDREW MONAI-IAN.

Witnesses:

JOHN N. PETERSON, J NO. J. SHEA. 

